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Google breaks ground on new 330,000-square-foot Boulder campus

By Vince Winkel

Staff Writer

Posted:
08/04/2015 01:06:56 PM MDT

Updated:
08/04/2015 06:52:23 PM MDT

Colorado's governor, Boulder's representative in Congress, well over 100 other city and state officials, plus a handful of Google staffers gathered Tuesday morning to witness the official ground breaking for Google's four-acre campus.

"This location is ideal," said Scott Green, the head of Boulder's Google operation. The new campus will provide 330,000 square feet of office space for the tech giant.

"This new campus lets us grow."

The site at 2930 Pearl St. will be built in two phases that will include three four-story buildings and a large underground parking lot. It could eventually house up to 1,500 employees. Google now has about 340 employees in Boulder. Phase one, which includes two buildings, is slated to be complete in 18 months.

Boulder Mayor Matt Appelbaum reaches for a shovel off of a robot built by Monarch High School's Team Shazbots robotic team, while, from left, John Tayer, of the Boulder Chamber; Collin Kemberlin, of Tryba Architecture; Liz Hanson, of the city of Boulder; Congressman Jared Polis; Scott Green, of Google; Gov. John Hickenlooper; Fran Ryan, of Impact; and Darren Fisk, of Form; watch during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Google campus in Boulder on Tuesday. (Mark Leffingwell / Staff Photographer)

"If you're searching — or Googling — for proof that Colorado is a national leader for innovation and technology and continues to be a draw for business, look no further than Boulder and Google's decision to expand here," said Gov. John Hickenlooper.

"Google's new Boulder campus will create hundreds of good-paying jobs and generate millions in local investment," said Rep. Polis. "Google's decision to expand its presence in Colorado, and Boulder in particular, reinforces our state and city's reputation as a place where innovation and creativity thrive."

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Currently, Google employees in Boulder are split between four buildings near the intersection of 26th and Pearl Street.

"Any city would love to have Google," said Boulder Mayor Matthew Appelbaum at Tuesday's ceremony. "Google is already in Boulder of course, but this makes them much more of a permanent presence in the city."

Members of the technology community see the Boulder expansion as a natural progression.

Concerns

The project has not been without controversy.

"The buildings are large and imposing. There are no shops or restaurants on the street level that would invite the public into the space," Boulder resident Judy Amabile wrote to the Daily Camera when the project was approved in December.

"Google's expansion may well exacerbate rather than mitigate our affordable housing and transportation problems," she added.

Another Boulder resident, Paul Walmsley, expressed his views in a Dec. 8 letter to the editor: "The unique environment of Boulder is what draws the new tenant of this office park and its employees to our town. Ironically, this development threatens that environment. ... Monolithic office parks don't belong in our residential and public commercial neighborhoods."

Allison Davis, a Boulder native who lived in Mountain View, Calif., where Google is headquartered, before returning here, is also concerned about the project's impact on housing prices.

"As Google expanded, they rapidly priced out those who had not been lucky enough to buy housing in Mountain View before 1990. A city can lose its feel easily in a decade, and I already see that happening in Boulder," she wrote.

University of Colorado economics professor Jeffrey Zax said something was going to move into that space at 30th and Pearl streets regardless.

"So maybe we get a bit more traffic," he said. "But you also have an increase in tax revenue. There will be some additional demand for housing, yes. But something was going to happen on that lot anyway. It wasn't going to stay empty."

City officials say the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

"Google is a solid and stable business, a center for innovative ideas and thinking," said Boulder City Council member Macon Cowles. "Google provides intellectual capital to the community that will spawn other companies and collaborations that will likely have a positive impact on the community and the wider world."

Boulder Mayor Appelbaum said any large-scale project in the city inevitably generates concern.

"It's Boulder, there is always controversy," he said, "which is a good thing actually. People do need to get involved in their community.

"But we're also a community that has been shaped by the university, IBM, the federal labs, by Ball Aerospace and I think Google can play that role too, of really being part of that critical mass that we have in Boulder that makes the place really tick."

Congressman Polis said he understands the concerns of some Boulder residents over the new campus.

"Our communities along the northern Front Range are growing and that's something we've been dealing with for decades, sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully."

For Google employees, the new campus is something to look forward to.

"This newer, modern building will be nice," said Cynthia Harris, a software engineer. "Right now we're a bit squished. We're in what was a Circuit City."

Aaron Brockett, the chair of the Boulder Planning Board, said he weighed all the pros and cons before voting on the project last December.

"I voted in favor of the Google project because it will bring hundreds of high-quality jobs into a location with good bike and transit facilities. I think Google has the potential to be one of our long-term, foundational employers like NIST, IBM and NCAR that can contribute to our community and our economy for decades to come," he said.

"There are certainly concerns about traffic in that part of town, but we did get a thorough traffic study that showed that there would be no significant impact to nearby major intersections," Brockett pointed out. "I'm more concerned about the impact on housing prices in town."

Boulder Economic Council executive director Clif Harald believes it was a no-brainer to move ahead with the new campus.

"Google's decision to expand here is an affirmation of all that's special about Boulder and our unique business environment: among other things the world class talents of our workforce, our highly desirable quality of life, and our dynamic, technology-driven economy," Harald said.

The new Google campus is adjacent to the developing Boulder Junction transit center and intersected by the community's multi-use path, which will enable Google's future work force to take advantage of multi-modal transportation.

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